Thursday • April 3 • 2025
Vol.XVII • No.XIV
Manchester, N.H.
As promised in the last Monday Memes, I have an overflow. My meme cup runneth over. Fairly certain about a Friday Overflow-Overflow.
Also, for those prepper-minded, my last two Survival Sundays:
Survival Sunday – Sunday PREP Edition – Granite Grok
Survival Sunday – Thursday SITREP Edition – Granite Grok
Now, let the mayhem, mockery, and ridicule resume:
*** Warning, a few possibly off-color ones, in case tender eyes are about ***
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On the plus side, these ungrateful whiney simps will be the first to die off in a SHTF situation.
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I’ll freely confess, I don’t particularly care for beer and – in general – don’t drink a lot (on the few times I do drink beer, I prefer stronger beers – and when I get a chance I’ll buy local stuff… there’s one restaurant near me that has its own brewery in it). And that was before I became diabetic. Grrrr. But, if you’re going to boycott, TELL THEM WHY. The pain of dropping sales is, IMHO, obvious, but the more explicit you can make it the better.
Contact Us | Anheuser-Busch
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Also see:
The Big Lie: Exposing the Nazi Roots of the American Left
And an older book:
Liberal Fascism
This was an absolute eye-opener to me; I was, when I read the first one, much more aware thanks to this second. Wow!
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Pick of the post:
The more I see about the world, the more I am convinced that the answer to Lara’s We don’t know musing is… ALL OF THEM. And related:
Again, experiencing Betrayal Trauma over this, I am beginning to realize that not only have the last years been moving towards not being free. I’m wondering if it was all a stage thing like Zappa once said:
“The illusion of freedom will continue as long as it’s profitable to continue the illusion. At the point where the illusion becomes too expensive to maintain, they will just take down the scenery, they will pull back the curtains, they will move the tables and chairs out of the way and you will see the brick wall at the back of the theater.”
― Frank Zappa
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Palate cleansers:
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I remember seeing this movie in 3-D. With the glasses. Excellent!
The post Meme Overflow appeared first on Granite Grok.
Before 2020, I don’t think you’ll find many articles on GraniteGrok about medical facemasks or face covering with an alleged medical purpose. Maybe one or two. It’s 2023, and we’ve got close to 400 of them, and guess what?
You were right.
“Masks interfered with O2-uptake and CO2-release and compromised respiratory compensation,” the review states. “Though evaluated wearing durations are shorter than daily/prolonged use, outcomes independently validate mask-induced exhaustion-syndrome (MIES) and down-stream physio-metabolic disfunctions. MIES can have long-term clinical consequences, especially for vulnerable groups.”
Continuous rebreathing of carbon dioxide results in the “right-shift of hemoglobin-O2 saturation curve.”
“Since O2 and CO2 homeostasis influences diverse down-stream metabolic processes, corresponding changes toward clinically concerning directions may lead to unfavorable consequences such as transient hypoxemia and hypercarbia, increased breath humidity, and body temperature along with compromised physiological compensations,” the review states.
The review also said that several mask-related symptoms may have been misinterpreted as symptoms of long COVID. “In any case, the possible MIES contrasts with the WHO definition of health,” it states, referring to the World Health Organization.
None of this, I admit, is new to you, who have been reading here or sending us links to similar research for as long as we’ve been told we have to wear facemasks. It is data these researchers sifted at length to arrive at their summary. This a conclusion that makes perfect sense in a world where politicians won’t make room for it.
It suggested that the side effects of face masks be assessed based on risk-benefit analysis after taking into consideration their effectiveness against viral transmissions. If “strong empirical evidence” showing the effectiveness of masks is absent, the study recommended that wearing masks should not be mandated, “let alone enforced by law.”
Red Bull does not give you actual wings, but politicos, so-called public health experts, the media (which knows little about anything), and the Karens would have you believe it will if that advances the correct agenda.
Before the COVID mandates, the evidence on masking was clear as vodka. Medical masks worn by professionals – the ones they asked you to use – are not meant to prevent viral transmission. They are incapable of it, and the manufacturers have long been required to state as much to avoid being called out by consumer advocacy groups, government agents, or agencies pretending to be about consumer protection.
At best, they might prevent you from spitting on someone or them on you, but that’s not how airborne viruses find new hosts. Viability on surfaces is fleeting and inefficient. It can happen, but the perceived benefit does not outweigh the risk, including the threat mandates present to natural rights and liberties.
We’ve said it many times. Freedom is far more fragile and rare than human life, so preserving it is job one, and too many of us are still sleeping on the job, and a few of us are still wearing facemasks that don’t do any of the things attributed to them but can cause medical harm.
The post These Researchers Reviewed 2,168 Face Mask Studies, And You Were Right! appeared first on Granite Grok.
Making up lies, and creditable lies is difficult. Besides, no one is smart enough to remember all the lies they tell and then end up giving themselves away. But, when you speak the truth you don’t have to remember anything.
Truth is not something you make up, as lies are. Truth is a universal treasure that belongs to all and sets us free. President Trump won the 2020 presidential election in a landslide, and that is the truth that must be repeated.
“We are on the precipice – this is essentially a new American Revolution, and anybody who wants this country to remain free needs to step up right now. These are federal felonies. Altering a vote or changing a ballot is a federal felony. People need to come forward now and get on the right side of this issue and report the fraud they know existed in Dominion voting systems because that was what it was created to do,” Powell said.
At a time when the world is in torment and uncertainty, the American people—true to the values that have always been at the core of America’s identity—strongly put their faith in President Trump and the future.
Unfortunately, under the pretense of Chinese virus hysteria, the Socialist-Democrats implemented a national, orchestrated drive to relax accountability in the voting process and allow massive mail-in ballots to pour in, which they evidently exploited with massive voter fraud that enabled them to flip a lopsided presidential election.
The release of a forensic audit of Dominion Voting Systems Software in Antrim County, Michigan, has shown that the voting machines are “intentionally and purposefully designed with inherent errors to create systemic fraud and influence election results.”
Trump won this election in a huge landslide, and the machine’s algorithm fraud was not enough for Biden to win, therefore, the extra illegal mail-in ballots started flowing in at 2 am/ 3 am and even days after.
We are witnessing an international plot and a coup d’etat to exploit a manufactured virus to support a utopian society in order to steer toward a New World Order.
What we as Americans should do now, knowing full well that our election was stolen in bright daylight and right in front of billions of people watching it worldwide live? Surrendering is not an option!
Perhaps Patrick Henry can answer this question:
“It is in vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry, Peace, Peace — but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring the clash of resounding arms to our ears! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!”
The post Surrendering is Not an Option! appeared first on Granite Grok.
The Democrat party is the party of death, but they are also the party of fear, and one of the more recent terms to join their lexicon is forever chemicals. Anything that gets into your body accumulates and never leaves, like Democrat Socialism.
I was reminded of this when a Boston Herald headline popped up in the daily pile of emails. “US states including Vermont and California consider ban on cosmetics with ‘forever chemicals’.” For those new to the question, everything has the potential to cause harm, even things that can do great good, but the dose makes the poison. There is, for example, no evidence of which I am aware that PFOA or PFAS are forever chemicals, but they can lead to cancer in high enough concentrations, so the left uses them to make your water so expensive that you are forced to use less.
Use less came before “it’s a forever chemical,” and we know the Ruling Class, led by Democrats, could care less about your water quality. Flint, Michigan, The Colorado River contamination, East Palestine. It’s politics first for them in every instance.
A parallel example is energy prices and emissions. Driving prices up forces people to use less, and offshoring emissions makes it look like they care. But both instances are about control.
So what about the Boston Herald Headline? States like California and Vermont (same state, different sides of the country) have a burning desire to regulate, and the cosmetics industry is an enormous target.
In Vermont, the state Senate gave final approval this week to legislation that would prohibit manufacturers and suppliers from selling or distributing any cosmetics or menstrual products in the state that have perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, as well as a number of other chemicals including lead and formaldehyde.
The products include shampoo, makeup, deodorant, sunscreen, hair dyes and more, said state Sen. Terry Williams, a Republican, and member of the Senate Committee on Health and Welfare. …
“We must stop importing dangerous chemicals like PFAS into our state so we can prevent the harms they are causing up and down the supply chain — from their production and use to their disposal,” Lauren Hierl, executive director of Vermont Conservation Voters, said in a statement.
This is based on assumptions put forth by the politically compromised EPA, complete with the forever chemical label. But there’s no proof of that. Yes, significant exposure presents some risk of cancer, but workers who handle the stuff have never had any higher incidence of cancer than those who don’t, and I’ve yet to see any research that contradicts that. But let’s run with it, shall we?
Hormone blockers given to pre-pubescent kids will forever alter their biology. Surgical interventions that remove or replace sex parts are forever. The sort of government that Democrats want is forever – even suggesting a reduction in growth is labeled a drastic cut in funding, and nothing they erect ever goes away.
The COVID vaccines may be, for many, a forever chemical.
But if ever there was a thing that represented a danger to life, liberty, and happiness (forever), it is progressive governance. Democrat rule is the biggest threat to your longevity and quality of life.
So what’s the answer? Education. Democrats seem to think they have a monopoly on that, so teach, don’t regulate. Tell people you think this stuff might be dangerous and why, then let them assume the risk. It’s how free and open societies work things out, and if we are being honest, the government’s track record in determining what is safe and effective is lousy.
But that comes with risks. Open debate allows other details some time at the podium. And it abrogates the true mission; their busybody obsession with control and the desire to grow government at every opportunity to ensure it.
It’s a sure sign that you need to be wary. The moment the “experts” and their Deep State presstitutes in the media try to squelch opposing ideas, it’s a scam.
The post Democrat Rule Is the Single Biggest Threat to Your Longevity and Quality of Life. appeared first on Granite Grok.
Trust me – I’d rather not have to send a second demand for School Districts to respond to a valid Right To know. I’d rather have it a two-email process as in “Here’s the RTK” and “Here are the demanded Responsive Records.” Quick, easy, and done.
But my last email had to be sent and it did have a result.
Recap:
I’m a bit late in posting this up but here we go.
And I thanked her for sending a partial delivery of Responsive Records and looking forward to the rest:—— Original Message ——
From “Jodie Holmquist” <jholmquist@hnhsd.org>
To “Skip” <skip@granitegrok.com>
Date 4/7/2023 12:17:44 PM
Subject RTK RequestDear Mr. Murphy,
As a further response to your RTK request for information on library books in the Hinsdale School District, I am attaching an Excel spreadsheet for each of our two libraries with the author, title and ISBN number for books. Your request for content summary in an Excel format is more difficult. Our district librarian has been in communication with Destiny in an effort to comply with your request and has learned that our system provides the content summary as an html document. I am including those links as well.
Thank you,
Jodie
—— Original Message ——
From “Skip” <Skip@granitegrok.com>
To “Jodie Holmquist” <jholmquist@hnhsd.org>
Date 4/7/2023 2:04:14 PM
Subject Re: RTK RequestJodie,
Thanks for sending these files along. I’ll review them later on today and compare them against the data elements listed in my RTK.
If your librarian needs assistance, I can help.
Thank you for the partial delivery of the Responsive Records.
-Skip
So we shall see what happens.
To be continued…
The post Hinsdale School District Finally Coughs Up Some of The Records I Requested appeared first on Granite Grok.
The Nashville, Tennessee, school shooting was a hate crime. Domestic terrorism perpetuated by self-proclaimed transgender Audrey Hale. Such people want “revenge” against those who disagree with their agenda.
We want to thank Jack Griffin for this Contribution – Please direct yours to Editor@GraniteGrok.com.
You can review our ‘Op-Ed Guidelines‘ on the FAQ Page.
Online trans community posts include:
“Trans kids are being killed by legislation.”
“Death before Detransition”
Trans posters in trans online forums and Twitter promote violence against “TERFs” and “fascists.” In other words, people who want to protect children from their deviant sexuality.
One video on social media is a boy with curly brown hair, wearing a midriff-bearing T-shirt, loading a full magazine into an AR-15, and cycling a few rounds through the chamber.
A trans activist called the Nashville Christian school a “Right Wing Institution” right after Audrey Hale’s sick, twisted rampage.
The Left’s Marxist propagandists, like Todd Bookman of NHPR, are stoking fear, hatred, and violence amongst transgender people. He is inciting mentally ill people to violence. Gender Dysphoria is a known mental illness.
“You have to be dangerous back, why some LGBTQ people are taking up arms.”
Bookman quotes Sharon, an LGBTQ competitive shooter, “There are people that just looking at me will want to hurt me. ”
That’s rather delusional and paranoid. Where are the Democrats with their red flag laws now?
From PJ Media, William Whitworth, a 19-year-old male that claims to be female, was arrested for threatening various schools. Police found his copy of The Communist Manifesto, by Karl Marx, amid the squalor of filth and rotting take-out food in his dwelling.
Dr.Peter McCullough, MD, MPH, quotes a British study that concludes the most notable risks for those who change genders is suicide and homicide. Perhaps we should focus on treating gender dysphoria rather than humoring the mentally ill before they kill more of us.
I never found Klinger on MASH attractive. Just comedic, as intended. If this tiny percentage of humanity wants armed conflict with conservative veterans, bikers, Their families, and friends, that’s an hour we’ll never get back. LOL.
Trans Day of Vengeance. Wear a mask. Yeah, right.
On a final note, there are video stills of Audrey Hale’s shoes by school cameras and police body cam. One shows sneakers with a white slash; the other shows sneakers with flames on them. What if liberals, conservatives, and transgenders are being manipulated by the alphabet agencies?
Food for thought.
The post The Democrats Own the Transgender Insurrections appeared first on Granite Grok.
When you have kids, you start looking around for all the harmful things they might do by accident, like stick a finger in a socket, drink cleaning fluids from under the sink, climb out a second-story window, fall down some stairs, or drown in a toilet, and so on.
And you install devices — covers, locks, gates, caps — to keep those things from happening.
And you do it before you’re overwhelmed by sleep deprivation or other forms of stress. While you’re still able to think calmly and clearly about the future.
That’s the basic idea behind a constitution, and especially a bill of rights. They are devices installed by adults to keep children from doing things that would cause great harm — like passing laws to abridge freedom of speech, infringe the right to keep and bear arms or deprive people of their livelihoods in the name of public health — because they just don’t know any better.
That is, a constitution, and a bill of rights, are essentially child-proofing devices.
The post The Basic Idea Behind a Constitution appeared first on Granite Grok.
Four staffers for the White House will try to leverage hundreds of social media influencers to peddle Biden’s’accomplishments’ in the run-up to the 2024 Presidential Election. That shouldn’t take long. He doesn’t have any.
But do they need help? Between the progressive zombies, the bot farms, and big tech’s partisan interests, it’s not difficult to find “someone” online willing to lie to protect the ongoing decline of America at the hands of radical domestic terrorists doing business as the Democrat Party. There are more of them than you can shake a stick at (or at whom you can shake a stick, if you prefer).
No shortage, and as difficult as it is to accept, we have not reached peak stupid. To get there from here, Obama Biden staffers hope to lower the IQ in every room to sell Biden’s America to young voters. The ones whose debt he did not cancel. Whose jobs he killed and wages he made worthless.
Them?
“We’re trying to reach young people, but also moms who use different platforms to get information and climate activists and people whose main way of getting information is digital,” Jen O’Malley Dillon, White House deputy chief of staff, told Axios.
In addition to the digital strategy team working with Biden, the content creators could potentially set up camp in a dedicated briefing space at the White House to meet in person or remotely.
It’s a good thing the TikTok generation feasts daily on a diet of Democrat drivel. The ask should be easy. Hey, you know that crap you peddle daily. Depression, misery, generational hopelessness, and helplessness. Can you swing in a few good words about Joe Biden and how he made that romanticized utopian experience you are having possible? Tell them he’ll finance their lethargy with poverty-level subsistence living basic income. Just face DC a few times a day, bend over, and kiss your ass goodbye.
And don’t forget to mumble!
Oh, and do some “spontaneous” organic protests now and again (we’ll send you details in advance), suppress other people’s speech, support men pretending to be women, and then throw yourselves off that bridge we’re trying to sell you when we come up short on the promises.
Hey, we were right about that COVID vaccine, yeah? Safe and effective for kids who didn’t need it (and our condolences on the student death of your friends – that was Trump’s fault). The irreversible gender surgery for minors – and don’t listen to those detransitioning conspiracy theorists. Legalized Marijuana! Porn in schools. And, of course, Yes – a guy older than Moses with the intellectual agility of a small soap dish can relate to what matters to you. Joe loves fondling young people.
I bet it goes well for them as long as no one has to read anything. Expecting kids who graduate to be able to read is racist.
Exit question: it looks like they might be running this out of the White House, which – correct me if I’m wrong – but I think this violates Federal Election law (as if they care).
The post Biden Campaign Looks for Ways to “Fondle” the 2024 Youth Vote appeared first on Granite Grok.
Sir Isaac Newton wasn’t a political thinker like Marcus Cicero or John Locke. He was a scientist. Indeed, he exemplified the Scientific Revolution—an event that changed not only how people thought about the physical universe, but also how they thought about politics and government.
In that way, Newton and his scientific colleagues greatly affected the U.S. Constitution.
Newton and the Scientific Revolution
Aristotle’s works dominated the theory and practice of science throughout antiquity and the Middle Ages. Aristotle’s dominance faded during the Renaissance, however, and in the ensuing years. Nicolaus Copernicus refined the already-existing theory that the sun, not Earth, was at the center of the solar system. Johannes Kepler described the nature of planetary orbits. Francis Bacon outlined the scientific method. Galileo Galilei made discoveries in physics and astronomy. René Descartes’ mathematics facilitated the integration of math and physics. Gottfried Leibnitz advanced the fields of mathematics, physics, and philosophy.
Newton was the exemplar of this enlightened age.
He was born in 1643 (by our current calendar) in Lincolnshire, England. He had a difficult childhood, and his talents surfaced rather late. His string of astounding discoveries began after he enrolled at Cambridge University.
Newton invented calculus and made breakthroughs in optics and the laws of motion. His Latin term for the universal attractive force—gravitas, “heaviness”—gave us our word “gravity.” Encyclopaedia Britannica describes his book “Principia Mathematica” as “the fundamental work for the whole of modern science.”
Later in life, Newton became president of the Royal Society and warden of the British mint. He became deeply involved in the mint’s operations. The first scientist to be knighted, Sir Isaac died in 1727, at the age of 84.
Effects on Political Thought
The Scientific Revolution, and particularly Newton’s work, taught men that the universe wasn’t willful or chaotic, but governed by rules of order. Once you knew the rules, the physical universe became predictable. The physical world was, in 18th-century parlance, a “mechanical” place.
Newton’s fame encouraged others to tinker with mathematics, machinery, and astronomical models. Garry Wills’ book “Inventing America” describes both the 18th-century fascination with mechanical order and balance, and the efforts to apply “mechanics” to politics. Wills wrote of the Declaration of Independence, for example, “The Declaration’s opening is Newtonian. It lays down the law.” Wills added that “Newton’s ordering of the inanimate universe led men to seek an equivalent pattern in human activity.”
Effects on the Constitution
Participants in the 1787–1790 debates over the framing and ratification of the Constitution frequently drew analogies between scientific law and political and constitutional systems. Illustrative are some observations by John Dickinson during the Constitutional Convention. Here is their context:
The early days of the convention were dominated by arguments for a powerful national government that would relegate the states to wholly subordinate roles. James Wilson and James Madison were among those making such arguments.
Madison also favored a small aristocratic Senate. He claimed that a larger Senate would have insufficient influence. He compared the case to that of the tribunes in the Roman Republic: When their number was increased, Madison said, they lost influence.
On June 7, 1787, Dickinson decided he had had enough of this. According to Madison’s own notes, here is what Dickinson said:
“The preservation of the States in a certain degree of agency [i.e., independent activity] is indispensable [sic]. It will produce that collision between the different authorities which should be wished for in order to check each other. To attempt to abolish the States altogether, would degrade the Councils of our Country, would be impracticable, would be ruinous. He compared the proposed National System to the Solar System, in which the States were the planets, and ought to be left to move freely in their proper orbits. The Gentleman from Pa. [Mr. Wilson] wished he said to extinguish these planets. If the State Governments were excluded from all agency in the national one, and all power drawn from the people at large, the consequence would be that the national Govt. would move in the same direction as the State Govts. now do, and would run into all the same mischiefs. The reform would only unite the 13 small streams into one great current pursuing the same course without any opposition whatever. He adhered to the opinion that the Senate ought to be composed of a large number, and that their influence from family weight & other causes would be increased thereby. He did not admit that the Tribunes lost their weight in proportion as their no. was augmented and gave a historical sketch of this institution. If the reasoning of [Mr. Madison] was good it would prove that the number of the Senate ought to be reduced below ten, the highest no. of the Tribunitial corps.”
Notice how Dickinson reduced Madison’s argument about the Roman tribunes to an absurdity. More important for present purposes, however, were Dickinson’s mechanical modes of expression: “collision between … authorities,” the solar system, the flow of a great river, references to “weight.”
Analogies like these occur throughout the constitutional debates. Participants besides Dickinson enlisted the solar system in particular. A writer using the pen name “Marcus” asserted that under the Constitution, “The State Judiciary will be a satellite waiting upon its proper planet: That of the Union like the sun, cherishing and preserving a whole planetary system.”
My favorite example from this genre comes from the Massachusetts ratifying convention, held in early 1788. Opponents of the Constitution had been arguing for annual elections, which, they said, were suggested by nature itself.
William Hershel had discovered the planet Uranus only seven years previously. A supporter of the Constitution, James Bowdoin, took advantage of the discovery to make a point at the opponents’ expense:
“[I]f the revolution of the heavenly bodies is to be the principle to regulate elections, it was not fixed to any period, as in some of the systems it would be very short; and in the last-discovered planet it would be eighty of our years.”
Charles Turner rose in response:
“In reply to the Hon. Mr. Bowdoin, … He was, he said, greatly in favor of annual elections, and he thought … it would be establishing a dangerous precedent to adopt a change; for … the principle may so operate, as, in time, our elections will be as seldom as the revolution of the star the honorable gentleman talks of.”
Effect on the Constitution’s Structure
Much of the final Constitution resembles an interlocked and finely tuned machine. As Charles Carroll of Carrollton wrote:
“The three distinct powers of the federal Govt. are skilfully [sic] combined so as to balance each other, by that reciprocal check & counterpoise, which the most approved writers on Govt. consider as its chief perfection … [T]he several State-Governments will always keep it within its own & proper sphere of action: [T]hus while it restrains the State-Governments within their orbits, it is by them retained within its own; acting, & acted upon it will produce that order, that stability in the civil, which we see exists in the physical world, where if I may compare great things to small, every planet, every center of each system attracting & attracted, repelling, & repelled keeps that station, & rolls within those spheres, which the great Author of all being has prescribed to each.”
Further exemplifying the intricate and balanced structure is the Constitution’s Article V, which sets forth the amendment process. Madison was its principal draftsman, and it shows that he shared his generation’s “mechanical” mode of thought:
Balance and order. All very Newtonian.
Read prior installments here: first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth, eleventh, twelfth, thirteenth, fourteenth, fifteenth and sixteenth.
TJ Martinelli | The Tenth Amendment Center
The post The Ideas That Formed the Constitution: Sir Isaac Newton appeared first on Granite Grok.
Sun-King Sununu tweeted about Easter, but his tweet said NOTHING about Easter being a Christian holiday:
Now contrast Sun-King’s treatment of Easter to his treatment of Eid-al-Fitr:
To be clear, I have no problem with Sun-King recognizing Eid-al-Fitr. My problem is with Sun-King treating Christians as second class citizens. It is a complete falsehood to claim that Sun-King focuses on the “fiscal issues” and avoids the so-called “cultural issues.” Sun-King does take sides on the “cultural issues” and it is NOT the side of most GOP voters … and again, to be clear, what I mean by the side of most GOP voters is treating Easter as a Christian holiday, celebrating the risen Christ NOT bunnies.
The post In Sun-King Sununu’s New Hampshire, It’s Only About Bunnies appeared first on Granite Grok.
Why Does Planned Parenthood Want to Hide Details of Its Gender-Transition Hormone Drug Therapy Business
Planned Parenthood kills more babies than anyone, ever, in history, but that’s not a big enough business. They are branching out, and while abortion drives the bus, if you are interested in gender transition drugs, just ask.
Many Planned Parenthood health centers are able to offer gender-affirming hormone treatment (sometimes called GAHT). The best way to learn about the services available in your area is to contact your nearest Planned Parenthood health center.
If your closest Planned Parenthood health center doesn’t offer gender-affirming hormone treatments, and you want them to, you can tell them. Hearing from patients helps your nearest Planned Parenthood add services that you need. They may be able to recommend a trans-friendly doctor in your area who provides the services you need.
A story out of Missouri brought this to my attention.
“Following discovery that Planned Parenthood provides life-altering gender transition drugs to children without any therapy assessment, we asked them to provide basic documents to explain themselves, including why its procedures depart so far from any recognized standard of care
— Attorney General Andrew Bailey (@AGAndrewBailey) March 31, 2023
But it’s not exactly a secret, so why is PP in MO working so hard to hide the details?
Republican Attorney General Andrew Bailey demanded documents from Planned Parenthood after finding out that the clinic provides “life-altering gender transition drugs to children with any therapy assessment,” spokeswoman Madeline Sieren said in a statement. She described that as a departure from standard care.
Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region and Southwest Missouri sued in response, trying to block access to its records. In court filings, the healthcare provider argued Bailey has no authority to investigate the clinic, which is inspected by the state health department.
So, yes, they are offering these “treatments,” and no, they don’t want you to know the who, what, where, when, and how? Not private health details. You can only demand those where COVID is concerned. The AG doesn’t need personal info. What he’s looking for is evidence of procedure and transparency after a whistleblower “alleged that physicians [at a separate transition facility] did not warn patients and parents enough about potential side effects of puberty blockers and hormones, and that doctors pressured parents to consent to treatment.”
In a series of tweets, the AG outlined the nature of the interest.
“Following discovery that Planned Parenthood provides life-altering gender transition drugs to children without any therapy assessment, we asked them to provide basic documents to explain themselves, including why its procedures depart so far from any recognized standard of care Planned Parenthood is a member of the activist organization WPATH, which has long called for ‘extensive exploration of psychological issues’ ‘before any physical interventions are considered.’ But rather than provide a single document to explain why it is departing so far from WPATH’s standard, Planned Parenthood is running to court to try to hide everything. Missourians should be very concerned. There is also a growing recognition that there is not yet solid evidentiary support for gender transition interventions. As the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality has determined, ‘There is a lack of current evidence-based guidance for the care of children and adolescents who identify as transgender, particularly regarding the benefits and harms of pubertal suppression, medical affirmation with hormone therapy, and surgical affirmation.’ That’s why Finland, Sweden, and the United Kingdom, among others, have declared this to be ‘experimental’ and have substantially limited the circumstances where these interventions can be prescribed. Planned Parenthood’s decision not to follow the science, and not to even explain why it will not follow the science, is very concerning. We look forward to prevailing in this request for information and learning what is truly going on with Planned Parenthood in connection with gender transition issues.” (10/10)
Planned Parenthood of St Louis and southwestern Missouri sued to keep their secrets which is their right but not a good look. Planned Parenthood has no aftercare. They are a chop shop that typically outsources the “women’s health” side to third parties so it can focus on abortion. If they are handing out hormone therapy drugs, I’m confident it’s as haphazard an operation as the rest of the business. And that’s a good reason to ask questions.
Gender therapy drugs can kill kids. Dead. If PP isn’t providing proper informed consent, there are legal issues. They do not have the immunity provided to the Covidistas.
And yes, I checked Planned Parenthood of Northern New England (the local area tax-dollars to Dem campaign cash laundromat) and did not see anything obvious. Nothing popped more locally, either. But as you read in the first pull quote, PP offers them; all you need to do is ask.
We assume that enough interest will spark an activist war against local legislatures to ensure they can wreck kids’ lives without costly evaluations, documentation, reporting, or follow-up.
There is, of course, one other problem. Can they still call it “women’s” health care if they are transitioning boys to girls or vice versa? And why do they call it that anyway? They can’t even tell you what a woman is. How could they possibly know how to transition you to or from what they can’t define?
Talk about a paradox.
The post Why Does Planned Parenthood Want to Hide Details of Its Gender-Transition Hormone Drug Therapy Business appeared first on Granite Grok.
A popular narrative is that the COVID pandemic shutdowns made things worse for public schools, so we should cut them some slack. But there are two problems with this.
We want to thank Dr. Jody Underwood for this Contribution – Please direct yours to Editor@GraniteGrok.com.
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First, the narrative is not supported by the data. Scores were already decreasing (for reading) or stagnant (for math) before the pandemic started. It’s not like there was progress to be interrupted.
Second, the amount of slack that was already given to public schools over the several decades preceding the shutdowns is nearly beyond belief. There hasn’t been a time since the NAEP tests started (half a century ago) when it hasn’t been reasonably accurate to say: About half of kids in public schools are performing below the lowest levels of proficiency in reading and math. This is true no matter where you look, and no matter when you look.
The one score on which public schools have made substantial gains is in dollars spent per student. Currently, the per-student cost of a K-12 education exceeds the median cost of a house in many school districts.
For homeschooling parents, there is good news, and there is bad news. The good news is: Whatever you’re doing, it’s likely to be better than what they’re doing in the public schools, because it could hardly be worse.
The bad news is: Even if your own children are educated properly, they will still be surrounded by generations of public-school graduates, and will have to pay for an increasingly dysfunctional and expensive public school system.
Below, we take an in-depth look at what happened to scores on the New Hampshire Statewide Assessment (SAS), the test formerly known as the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT), and the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) before, during, and after the pandemic shutdowns. We also look at the per-student cost of K-12 education in New Hampshire over the same period.
The NH SAS
The New Hampshire Statewide Assessment System (NH SAS) is administered yearly to students attending traditional public and charter schools in grades 3-8. The SAT is administered to NH students in grade 11 — it’s free, and it’s required.
Parents may exempt their child from taking these tests. They do not have to supply a reason, and the school has to provide an educational activity for the student to do during the period their classmates are taking the assessment. These tests are not used as graduation requirements.
There is no minimum performance required of students — except inasmuch as RSA 193-H:2 requires public schools to have “all pupils at the proficient level or above on the statewide assessment.”
No school in New Hampshire is in compliance with this law. We might ask what purpose is served by these tests, but that is not the purpose of this review.
The New Hampshire Department of Education (NH DOE) has a record of statewide assessment data since 2016, which includes the NH SAS (grades 3-8) and the SAT (grade 11). The tests were not administered in 2020 because of school shutdowns due to the COVID pandemic. We’ll call this the shutdown year.
In what follows, we will use the phrase ‘the score’ to refer to ‘the percentage of students performing at or above the most basic level of proficiency’ on any given test.
Summary of NH SAS Scores Since 2016The following chart shows an overall summary of the score on the state standardized tests in grades 3-8 and 11 in English Language Arts (ELA) and Mathematics.
We see that ELA scores (blue) have been dropping linearly since 2016. (That is, we can draw a nearly straight line connecting the tops of all the blue bars.) In 2016, the score was just over 60%. (This means that nearly 40% — that is, 4 out of 10 students — performed below proficiency). In 2022, the score was about 50%. There was no extra drop after the shutdown for ELA. In other words, ELA scores seem to be just where they would be anyway, if the shutdown had never happened.
Math scores (orange) tell a different story. The score was just below 50% for all four years prior to the shutdown. After the shutdown it dropped to just under 40% and remained there in 2022. The scores were bad before, and are worse now. So, math scores show a marked decline after the shutdown.
(It’s just speculation, but this is consistent with the idea that students forgot the math they’d learned earlier. Which is another way of saying that they hadn’t really learned it.)
It might be helpful to view how these scores changed from year to year. The numbers in the chart below are computed by subtracting the previous year from the current year. (The difference shown in 2021 was from 2019, since the test wasn’t given in 2020.)
We can see that there’s a decrease in the ELA score (blue) every year, both before and after the shutdown. As described earlier, scores for ELA were dropping before the shutdown and continued in the same fashion into 2021. The drop from 2019 to 2021 appears large because it represents two years of decline, instead of just one.
The math score (orange) was approximately the same for each year before the shutdown (which is why you can’t see any orange bars for 2018 and 2019). Then there is a large (10%) drop in the score the year after the shutdown, followed by an increase in the score two years after the shutdown.
Individual Grades
Now let’s look at grades 3-8 and 11 individually to see if that tells a different story.
The chart below shows the score for ELA alone. It shows a 5-year progression for each grade, made up of 2 bars (for 2018 and 2019), a space (for the 2020 the shutdown year), and 2 more bars (for 2021 and 2022). We see that in each of grades 3 through 8 there’s a drop in scores after the shutdown year, though sometimes not by very much (e.g., grade 6). That’s consistent with the overall scores for grades 3-8, discussed above. However, grade 11 shows consistent scores before and after the shutdown, which is different from the overall scores shown earlier.
Students in grade 11 take the SAT, which is a different test from the NH SAS, and not directly comparable, even though the state combines them in its overall summary. Also, students take no standardized test in grades 9 and 10.
Math scores in the individual grades drop after the shutdown each year in grades 3 through 8 (yellow is below orange), but then the numbers start to rise (compare light blue to yellow). This is different from the overall scores in math. More specifically, the math score goes down after 3rd grade and remains static in the middle grades (look at any one color across grades 5-8 in the math graph below).
There is also an exception for grade 11 for SAT math, where the numbers remain at about the same levels, hovering at around 40%. (Again, that’s 6 out of every 10 students performing below proficiency).
Notes
NAEP: The Nation’s Report Card
The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP, pronounced “nape”) is often called The Nation’s Report Card. It is the largest nationally representative and continuing assessment of what students in public schools in the United States know and are able to do in various subjects in grades 4, 8, and 12.
Since 1969, NAEP has been a common measure of student achievement across the country in mathematics, reading, science, and many other subjects. Depending on the assessment, NAEP report cards provide national, state, and some district-level results, as well as results for different demographic groups. NAEP is also used to compare performance in the US to performance in other countries, for example, in contrast to the PISA and TIMSS tests. NAEP reports four levels of performance: Below Basic, Basic, Proficient, and Advanced.
NAEP scores in New Hampshire tell a different story than the NH SAS and SAT scores. Looking at the chart below, the ELA scores for grades 4 and 8 were rising (ever so slightly) since 2003, but dropped in 2019, which was a year before the shutdown. Whatever happened in 2019 was not the shutdown.
NAEP normally tests in odd years, but they skipped 2021 and instead tested in 2022, with scores that were even lower than 2019 (although not significantly different statistically).
Looking at the chart below, math scores were on the rise for both grades 4 and 8 through 2013. Fourth grade scores (blue) dropped in 2015, continuing the downward trend through 2022. Eighth graders (orange) didn’t score as well as the 4th graders through 2013, stagnated from 2013-2017, but also took a downturn in 2019 that continued in 2022. Grade 8 looks like they took more of a shutdown hit than Grade 4, but both downswings started well before the shutdown.
Again, we should state clearly that all these NAEP scores are abysmal. They show that even at its high in 2015, 55% of grade 8 students were not reading at a proficient level (previous chart above). In math (below), the peak was in 2013, with 41% of NH 4th-grade students performing below proficiency. What’s more, if you go back far enough, the 2022 scores might just be part of a normal variance.
NH Per-Student Cost
The growth in the yearly cost per pupil in NH’s public schools, preschool through grade 12, is shown in the chart below. For fun, we compare each yearly increase to inflation since 2017.
The blue bars show the per-student cost growing (from 2017) at the rate of inflation. The orange bars show the actual growth, which is considerably larger.
By 2021-22, the excess grew to 10% of the total (about $1,800 additional per child). And this is only going back to 2017. Imagine if we started the inflation analysis 40 years ago.
Again, keep in mind that this is the cost of a school system in which half the students are failing to reach even the lowest levels of proficiency in reading and math. The mind reels.
Conclusion
The narrative that the COVID pandemic shutdowns made things worse for public schools is not supported by the data. Scores were already decreasing (for reading) or stagnant (for math) before the pandemic started. It’s not like there was progress to be interrupted by the shutdown.
About half of kids in public schools are performing below the lowest levels of proficiency in reading and math. This has been true for a long time.
The one score on which public schools have made substantial gains is in dollars spent per student. The per-student cost of a K-12 education exceeds the median cost of a house in many school districts and rises beyond inflation every year.
| Granite State Home Educators
The post Did COVID Shutdowns Affect NH Student Performance? appeared first on Granite Grok.
The headline from the Epoch Times is “Switzerland Stops Recommending COVID-19 Vaccination,” but is that the real story? It sounds like a win for the so-called anti-vaxxers. The Jab is terrible, and hey, the Swiss have said Nicht mehr (Aucun, Non più, ajunge). No more!
Related: New Research: COVID and Flu Vaccines Are Not “Preventing” Hospitalization
Switzerland’s Federal Office of Public Health now says that “no COVID-19 vaccination is recommended for spring/summer 2023.” People designated at high risk also aren’t recommended to get a COVID-19 vaccine, authorities said.
Why?
Switzerland claims to have evidence that 98% of the population has COVID antibodies. Summer is not big for flu (they say), so now seems like an excellent time to delist the mRNA poison as something the government suggests officially… unless you want it.
Swiss authorities nodded to the short-lived protection as they noted that people designated at high risk from COVID-19 can still receive a vaccine, despite the lack of recommendation, after consultation with their doctor.
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So, there’s no reason to harass the folks who took a hard pass?
Switzerland’s population is 8.8 million. They claim 4.399 million cases of COIVD, with 4.378 million recovered. But only 69% have received one dose; on average, only 10% have in the past six months. That’s not dissimilar to other countries, including the US. Uptake has waned significantly, and in Switzerland, half the population may have never had COVID though they may have been exposed. So?
“Vaccination may be wise in individual cases, as it improves protection against developing severe COVID-19 for several months,” they said.
People at high risk include those aged 65 or older and pregnant women.
That’s some bad advice, none of which is proven—quite the opposite. COVID vaccination increases the chance of disease and severe disease, including death. Pfizer/Moderna, the FDA, and who knows who else in the so-called public health industrial complex also knew The Jab caused miscarriages.
People who aren’t determined to be at high risk from COVID-19 can also get a COVID-19 vaccine but will have to pay a fee since they’re getting a vaccine that isn’t recommended, authorities said. Those at high risk who receive a shot recommended by the doctor won’t have to pay, as the vaccination will be covered by health insurance.
In other words, the “Swiss authorities” are not saying you no longer need it. They are saying the government will no longer pay for it, but if you would like to embrace the risk, knock yourself out – perhaps literally.
At least for the summer. The “authorities” reserve the right to renew a recommendation that you get more poison before winter arrives, though it does not look like the population will line up if they do.
That is good news.
The post Switzerland Declares COVID Herd Immunity – But You Can Keep Poisoning Yourself If You Want appeared first on Granite Grok.
We have at least one US Representative (Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York) and one US Senator (Ron Wyden of Oregon) openly calling on the Biden administration to simply ‘ignore’ a recent ruling from a federal court.
The ruling happens to be over whether the FDA can continue approval for a drug, but the particular issue doesn’t really matter.
What matters is that we might be nearing the end of an era, which began in 1803, in which the judiciary has been seen as ‘more equal’ than the other branches of government, with the ability to unilaterally amend constitutions and statutes just by changing the definitions of common English words (like ‘no,’ ‘not,’ ‘abridge,’ ‘infringe,’ ‘tax,’ ‘fee,’ and so on).
I hope the administration takes Ocasio-Cortez’s and Wyden’s advice to tell the judiciary to shove it. To say, as the grandkids like to say, You’re not the boss of me.
Not because I care about this particular issue, but because someone has to do it eventually, on some issue, to break the spell that John Marshall cast on the entire country when he declared, in Marbury v. Madison, that it is ’emphatically the province and duty of the judicial department to say what the law is.’
Which ruling itself effectively amended Article 1, Section 1 of the Constitution by replacing the word ‘all’ with the meaning of the word ‘some.’
I had hoped that Trump would pick this fight, first over travel bans and again over illegal immigration. But maybe, just as only Nixon could go to China, only Biden can ignore the judiciary.
In any case, what is necessary is that people get used to the idea that just because a court says something, that doesn’t mean it has the authority to do so. Because from there, it’s a short step to realizing that just because a legislature or an executive branch says something, that doesn’t mean that it had the authority to do so.
And that might one day take us into a new era, one in which it is emphatically the province and duty of the people to say what laws they consent to and to ignore laws to which they have never consented — finally giving us the government that we were promised in the Declaration of Independence.
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JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon thinks the Feds and NGOs should make Eminent Domain claims to seize private property … to save the planet. Dimon is worth close to two billion, and wouldn’t this be a good time to lead by example?
“[C]limate conscious corporations may have to seize citizen’s private property to enact climate initiatives while there still time to stave off climate disasters.
Dimon declared Tuesday that “governments, businesses and non-governmental organizations” may need to invoke “eminent domain” in order to get the “adequate investments fast enough for grid, solar, wind and pipeline initiatives.”
Ignoring that there is not enough real estate to build enough ‘infrastructure’ or enough raw material to pretend we’ve achieved Progressive’s alleged CO2 reduction goals (or any evidence they are needed), there is something that can be done if lowering emission quickly is the goal. You should go first. The science tells us that you rich guys and gals are the only demographic that hasn’t been doing your part. While everyone else in America (demographically) has lowered their emissions, the Davos crowds have risen as much as 50%.
“The Climate Cult should consider you -normal Jane and Joe – a good citizen. Over the past two-plus decades, you’ve reduced your “emissions” by 16%. … But that blessed one percent, a few of whom are the loudest voices preaching “emissions” mythology, [have] emitted 23% more over that period, while the top 0.1% increased their emissions by 50%…”
A proper missionary arrives in sackcloth and bare feet, not burdened by the embarrassment of excess emissions.
He then mentioned that “governments, businesses and non-governmental organizations need to align” on policies to expedite climate solutions. Dimon added, “Massive global investment in clean energy technologies must be done and must continue to grow year-over-year.”
He floated eminent domain as one of these policies that could speed up building green infrastructure.
“At the same time, permitting reforms are desperately needed to allow investment to be done in any kind of timely way. We may even need to evoke [sic] eminent domain,” Dimon stated.
This tells me that Jamie is looking to make a killing on the backs of third-world slaves mining rare earth metals, but emissions offshoring pollutes their local environment for generations and the planet.
I’m not a class warfare guy, but if you think we need to give up the property we worked hard to own and hold so you can jet-set to climate conferences, a class war is what you’ll get. And I know you want a war. But those emit a lot of carbon. It would be easier if you gave up your property first. The jet, the yacht, a few homes, all the cars.
We can use eminent Domain, just like you suggested.
And if there is any indication that this has moved the needle on climate, thanks for sacrificing so we can keep our stuff.
The post Billionaire Suggests Feds Seize Your Private Property to Achieve Climate Goals – So, You Go First! appeared first on Granite Grok.
For the meeting on April 12th, here are the following items the Executive Council is set to approve related to Covid-19 (how are we still doing this?):
Please Submit Group communications or Press Releases to editor@granitegrok.com.
Submission is not a guarantee of publication.
Action Item
According to government databases, one child under the age of eighteen years old has died with Covid in New Hampshire, while there are VAERS reports showing four children in the same age group died subsequent to Covid-19 vaccination in New Hampshire. These are horrific statistics.
Please email your Executive Councilor and demand that they pause Covid-19 related expenditures to the Department of Health and Human Services until the department retracts their recommendation to vaccinate children against Covid-19 and stops state distribution of these shots to minors.
Joseph.D.Kenney@nh.gov
Cinde.Warmington@nh.gov
Janet.L.Stevens@nh.gov
Ted.Gatsas@nh.gov
David.K.Wheeler@nh.gov
Not sure who your Executive Council member is? Check here.
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This week could either be the beginning of the pro-life fight in New Hampshire – or the end. I will keep this short, as we don’t have much time.
Please Submit Group communications or Press Releases to editor@granitegrok.com.
Submission is not a guarantee of publication.
HB 224 is a bill that would repeal New Hampshire’s Fetal Life Protection Act – protecting preborn babies 24 weeks and beyond – and return New Hampshire to unlimited abortion up to birth.
The bill has already been passed by the House. Last week the bill had its hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, and now, the committee could hold an executive session on the bill anytime – most likely on Tuesday, April 11. The full Senate could vote on HB 224 as early as this coming Thursday, April 13.
This is the time for pro-lifers to fight because the lives of so many depend on it.
Our pressure on the Senate and the Governor can not stop.
We need your help. I am so grateful for the support that has so far allowed us to put pressure on our legislators, send mailers, and recruit a strong network of testifiers, but this week we need to redouble our efforts or see it all go to nothing.
This is why your gift to Cornerstone Action is urgently needed.
How hard we are able to fight these next few days will determine whether New Hampshire will preserve our protections for late-term preborn or once again allow abortion up to birth.
Will you give a sacrificial gift today to fight for the Fetal Life Protection Act?
The lives of real preborn children are in the hands of legislators today. Should we lose this week, it could very well be the end of the line. We need to take action.
Time is critical. We urge you to oppose HB 224, and stand up for pre-born life in the Granite State.
The post Save the Fetal Life Protection Act! – Oppose HB 224 appeared first on Granite Grok.
More bad news for the proprietors of non-stop Trump outrage. FEC Commissioner James ‘Trey” Trainos says, in regard to Alvin Bragg’s indictment, that there’s no there there.
In a 34-count indictment of Trump, the first criminal case ever against a former president, Bragg charged that a $130,000 payment made by former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen to porn star Stormy Daniels, which Cohen went to jail for in a plea deal, violated several campaign finance laws that splashed onto Trump.
But, said Trainor, the FEC and Justice Department already considered the case and tossed it.
We’ve already covered how there isn’t any actual crime outlined in the indictment, just activity that we’re meant to assume with result in a crime during litigation. Real banana republic stuff. You are guilty, and as soon as we get you in front of the right judge and jury, we’ll tell you why.
Trainor says,
That’s probably why Bragg doesn’t specify the laws that were broken. There are none. This is just another media show trial to besmirch public opinion about the single biggest threat to the Ruling class’s monopoly on power since JFK.
Side note to Mr. Trump. Avoid open cars in Dallas between now and November 2024. And maybe not just Dallas. They are out to get you, and you know that, but I don’t think, given the politicization of the CIA, FBI, Homeland, DHS, and the rest, that we can rely entirely on the protection services assigned to you.
They’ve tried everything else, and I can’t see murder as being a deal-breaker for them, especially if it triggers the level of militant unrest they’ve been pining for from any corner willing to take up arms.
The post FEC Commissioner James E. “Trey” Trainor -“It’s Not a Campaign Finance Violation. It’s Not a Reporting Violation of Any Kind.” appeared first on Granite Grok.
In efforts to undermine the Second Amendment, gun control advocates advance a variety of arguments claiming it does not confer an individual right to keep and bear arms and that it was ratified for reasons that make it morally illegitimate today.
Among these arguments is the claim that the Second Amendment was added to the Constitution for the sake of Southern slave states that relied on the militia to conduct slave patrols and put down potential slave insurrections and revolts.
That is the central thesis of an oft-quoted 1998 paper, The Hidden History of the Second Amendment, by law professor Carl T. Bogus. Aside from its explicit ideological underpinnings, the paper effectively claims to make one argument but with implications that go beyond any rational and logical extension. Both are rendered moot because implications he makes run afoul of the Ninth and Tenth Amendments.
The ostensible thesis is that James Madison’s motive for pushing the adoption of the Second Amendment was to assure Southern states that their militias used to conduct slave patrols would be protected from interference of one kind or another by the federal government.
There are an incredible number of glaring problems with this thesis.
First, for this thesis to be believable, the question of militia control and arming would have had to be solely a regional priority and not an issue outside of Southern slave states. Second, there almost certainly would have been either public statements or private correspondence to or from James Madison and others expressing the need for the Second Amendment to maintain local militia autonomy in the event of a slave revolt or uprising. Finally, states that had experienced prior slave revolts would have been pushing for it the hardest.
Instead, the concerns over the militia and the right to keep and bear arms came from states North and South, slave and free. The discussions about the proposed Constitution’s impact on slavery in the South during the ratification of the Constitution itself had nothing to do with the Second Amendment, nor did the amendment satisfy those concerns. And states that had had slave revolts made no demands for any amendment regarding militia control or the right to keep and bear arms.
It’s clear from the beginning of the paper that, to quote Sherlock Holmes, it’s a theory in search of facts that twists facts to suit a theory.
The first two-dozen pages or so don’t concern the history of the Second Amendment or the historical record, but instead focus on gun violence in America compared to other developed nations, the author’s frustration with the lack of federal gun control due to the Second Amendment, and his animosity toward gun rights groups that favor an individualistic interpretation of the Second Amendment.
When Bogus finally gets to the meat of his paper, he claims that protecting the individual right to keep and bear arms was “not the principal reason the Founders created the Second Amendment.” Instead, he insists it was to assure Southern states would not be vulnerable to slave revolts or insurrections due to federal interference with local militias used to quell them.
The trouble is, there’s no solid evidence to support this. His assertions are rooted in speculation, conjecture, or weak attempts to tie separate issues together.
For example, he notes that William Smith of South Carolina wrote a letter advocating for a bill of rights due to his opposition to the 20-year ban on the slave trade. But this conflates the entire Bill of Rights with one provision – the Second Amendment specifically. The implementation of a slave trade ban had nothing to do with local militia, nor did the Second Amendment affect it in any way.
Fundamentally, the paper frames antifederalist opposition to and apprehensions about the Constitution as primarily due to its potential impact on the institution of slavery. Bogus implies that the antifederalist stance regarding militia, a standing army, and firearm ownership was at its core not based on preserving federalism, but on slavery.
The paper’s case is even further harmed when the author brings up issues that are not relevant to the discussion. Bogus also misconstrues the debates. As one example, Bogus delves into the ineffectiveness of local militia to combat the British military during the War of Independence. He implies that arguments made by antifederalists championing local militia over a permanent standing army for fear of tyranny were insincere. Bogus writes that militia was the “best defense against slave insurrection but practically useless against a professional army.”
Yet, that’s not what they argued.
Antifederalists including George Mason, Patrick Henry, and others were fearful of a standing army during peacetime, not war. They were also afraid of a permanent standing army leading to a military dictatorship that would centralize power, in part by either consolidating or abolishing local militia that might resist it. Congress raising an army to ward off invasion or in defense of the nation, only to disband it as it had done during after the War of Independence following the Treaty of Paris, was not the basis of their opposition.
Another flaw in Bogus’ argument is that the fear of a standing army and the disarming of civilians was not confined to Southern slave owners like Mason and Henry.
For instance, although slavery was still legal in the state, New York was already on its way toward banning it. By 1781, it voted to free slaves that had fought in the War of Independence and later voted for gradual abolition by the end of the century. With its ratification of the Constitution, the state convention proposed several amendments that included the following:
That no appropriation of money in time of peace for the support of an army, shall be by less than two thirds of the representatives and senators present.
That each state shall have power to provide for organising arming and disciplining its militia, when no provision for that purpose shall have been made by Congress and until such provision shall have been made; and that the militia shall never be subjected to martial law but in time of war rebellion or insurrection.
New Hampshire ended slavery in 1783 and went on to ratify the Constitution but with 12 proposed amendments.
Among them:
That no standing Army shall be Kept up in time of Peace unless with the consent of three-fourths of the Members of each branch of Congress, nor shall Soldiers in Time of Peace be quartered upon private Houses without the consent of the Owners.
Congress shall never disarm any Citizen unless such as are or have been in Actual Rebellion.
Massachusetts Congressmen Eldridge Gerry echoed these arguments during the congressional debates about the Second Amendment, saying:
“What, sir, is the use of a militia? It is to prevent the establishment of a standing army, the bane of liberty. Whenever Governments mean to invade the rights and liberties of the people, they always attempt to destroy the militia, in order to raise an army upon their ruins. This was actually done by Great Britain at the commencement of the late revolution.” [Emphasis added]
Gerry was not only a northerner hailing from a free state, he signed both the Declaration of Independence and Articles of Confederation and refused to sign the Constitution because it did not include a Bill of Rights.
Further, Bogus’ interpretation struggles to explain how Southern states like South Carolina and Georgia that relied on the militia to enforce slave laws both ratified the Constitution, not only without a stipulation that amendments be adopted, but the amendments they suggested had nothing to do with militia.
The first state to use militia for slave patrols was South Carolina. At its ratifying convention held just prior to Virginia’s, the objections against the Constitution over slavery did not concern the disarming or nationalization of militia. Chief objections concerned a ban on importing slaves.
This is significant because South Carolina had been the scene of the Stono Rebellion, also known as Cato’s Rebellion. The largest slave revolt in the state’s history, it took place in 1739 and killed 25 whites and 50 blacks.
The fact that South Carolina raised no qualms about the loss of local militia control during the convention and made no demands about militia in its proposed amendments despite past slave revolts within living memory gains further significance when you consider that Virginia up until that point had never even experienced an actual slave revolt.
As Mary Miley Theobald at Colonial Williamsburg writes (bold emphasis added):
“There was in colonial Virginia a relentless fear of slave uprisings. Rumors and reports fed the anxieties of a slaveholding society, and some of them were founded in fact. But there was no organized slave uprising in Virginia until well into the nineteenth century. All the plots were uncovered or betrayed before they could be carried out. Luck—bad for the slaves, good for the masters—played a role, but there were other factors.”
Georgia’s convention had no transcript, and the focus of Bogus’s footnotes on it offers no proof that there was fear of losing local militia control needed to quell slave revolts.
In conclusion, it is damning that numerous northern states adamantly requested amendments regarding private firearm ownership as well as militia, yet key Southern slave states that relied on the militia to maintain that “peculiar institution” did not. This undercuts Bogus’s thesis and renders his conclusions more than doubtful.
TJ Martinell | The Tenth Amendment Center
The post Refuting the Claim that the Second Amendment was Intended to Protect Slavery appeared first on Granite Grok.